What Went Right or Wrong During Hurricane Irene?

The latest hearing on the utility companies' response to Hurricane Irene drew a sparse crowd in Scotch Plains Thursday. Those who did attend either praised PSE&G or expressed concern over the location of the Cranford substation, that under water left many without power for days.

Karen Johnson, Director of Communications for PSE&G said representatives from the Board of Public Utilities and utility companies would not speak during the hearing, but wanted to hear public concerns.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender commented on the low attendance at the meeting; there were only three comments from residents, the others who spoke were local officials in Union County.

“It has been two months since Hurricane Irene. I think that now, people are focused on other issues; especially in this economy, people are just trying to move on and make ends meet,” Stender explained.

Stender noted that her primary reason for attending the hearing was to welcome the BPU to the 22nd district and hear what the community had to say regarding recovery efforts after Irene.

“We were certainly affected by power outages in the 22nd district,” Stender stated. “The key is to improve communication. During the storm, the Union County Alert system, as well as Reverse 911 was extremely affective in getting information out to the public.”

The Assemblywoman also expressed how she feels the BPU could improve.

“I feel that the BPU or the state needs to figure out how to give more people access to generators. Given the trend of violent weather patterns we are experiencing, it seems that owning a generator is something that more and more families need to consider,” she said.

Scotch Plains Mayor Nancy Malool made a point of expressing her gratitude for the services rendered by PSE&G.

“I thought that PSE&G did an excellent job keeping me informed regarding the reasons why we didn’t have power, and when we would have our power back on. That really helped me communicate effectively with my residents.”

Mayor Malool explained that during the hurricane she would often hear about power issues that could have been resolved quickly, but were delayed because of the location of the outage.

“If I could make one suggestion, it would be for PSE&G to focus on the problems that can be fixed quickly so that less people are without power for long stretches of time.”

Mayor Malool explained that her primary reason for attending tonight’s hearing was to show her support for PSE&G.

“Considering the magnitude of the storm, and the impact it had on our region, I think PSE&G did an excellent job with the resources they had.”

Mayor Joseph Accardi of Roselle Park added to a common thread during the meeting that stated that in Union County, much of the flooding damage that occurred was due to the electrical outages. This is why homes that never had flooding before Irene accrued so much water; without electricity, sump pumps can’t operate leading to massive flooding in the basements of many residents throughout the region.

Accardi explained that 2,300 residents – more than half of Roselle Park was without power during the storm.

“My experience with PSE&G was positive in the face of a difficult situation,” Accardi stated. “They were responsive to my needs, and they never lied about when the power would come back on.”

Accardi went on to describe how PSE&G went above and beyond for one resident who had a serious medical need that required electricity immediately.

“This resident lived in a part of town that would have been one of the last areas in Roselle Park to regain power. Within eight hours of my phone call to PSE&G explaining the situation, PSE&G had restored their power. This response surely saved the life of one of our residents,” he said.

Accardi also expressed his gratitude for the information director and PSE&G who was responsive to his calls, and for Tom and Joe Signorello; two brothers who worked long hours for PSE&G to restore power to Roselle Park.

In place of Mayor Dan Asenbach, Finance Commissioner Edward O’Malley attended the hearing to express the severity of the damage Cranford experienced because of Hurricane Irene.

“This was a colossal event for us,” O’Malley stated. “We have been working with the for some time now to learn how we can protect ourselves from future storms. Because of global warming, we are seeing these events start to happen every 30 to 40 years,” he said.

O’Malley continued the pattern of gratitude for PSE&G noting that Cranford was “thrilled” with their response to the disaster.

The first public comment came from Barbara Krause, a woman who has lived in Cranford for 47 years and owns three properties including an office building on North Avenue and rental houses. Krause stated that she never had flooding in her basement before Hurricane Irene, questioning how PSE&G failed to plan for the flooding of the Cranford substation on South Avenue which was responsible for many of the power outages in the area.

“It was a living hell for three days,” she said. “I can’t believe that PSE&G could not anticipate this situation. Just because there had never been water in the substation doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have been able to foresee this,” she stated.

Like many residents, the losses of irreplaceable property like family photos and important business documents are still unfathomable. Although Krause received a significant amount from FEMA, she noted that can’t erase the pain of losing these personal treasures.

Krause and her husband Frank, who also spoke during the hearing, noted that in this economy, even with government assistance, the cost of repairing the damage assessed in the wake of Irene is overwhelming.

“What about the seniors?” Barbara Krause stated. “How are they going to cope? It was the loss of electricity that brought all of the problems. This is why families in Cranford are in crisis.”

Flood Committee member Thomas Hannen also came to show his support for PSE&G and offer some suggestions regarding the flooding of the substation in Cranford. Hannen, a volunteer fire fighter was also one of the first responders during Hurricane Irene.

“We know this won’t be our last storm. If we were to move or elevate the substation, we could reduce the number of businesses that were taken out of the commission because of the power outages. Residents who wanted a place to eat or buy groceries were unable to do so because of this flood. If this problem is fixed, it would also alleviate some of the costs that FEMA occurs because of disasters like this one,” Hannen Stated.

Hannen stated that the substation is located on South Avenue right by Rahway River in a business district. He explained that clearly this is not the best place to have an electric substation that serves multiple municipalities, and suggested that the BPU consider moving the station to 555 South Avenue, a privately owned location that is currently not being used.

Karen Johnson expressed to Patch that moving or elevating a substation is something the BPU will consider, but because the substation is located in a densely populated area, the cost and logistics of executing a move are extremely difficult.

BPU President Lee Solomon took the time to sit down with Patch and discuss his response to the comments that were made during this hearing.

Solomon noted that the sparse turnout at the hearing “indicates that people understand the nature of this storm and the difficult situation that utility companies like PSE&G were dealing with.”

Solomon went on to note that the fact that so many officials were satisfied with the services provided by PSE&G was sign of excellent communication strategies.

“We will be looking at PSE&G to consider using their communication efforts as a model for good business practices,” he said.

Solomon also responded to concerns that were raised regarding the substation in Cranford noting that he plans to evaluate the cost and the various options available for rectifying the problem. He also noted that he will take into account the findings of the Army Corps.

Director of Communications for BPU, Greg Reiner encourages all residents affected by the storm to write about their concerns for the public record.

Those letters can be sent to the email address: board.secretary@bpu.state.nj.us

“Our goal is to have the public communicate what went right, what went wrong, and how we can correct those problems and build better practices among these utility companies,” Solomon stated.